Sunday, October 26, 2014

Musings: Dustin's Dirty Deeds

Gosh, The Garden Island actually did
some investigating and came up with a scoop: mayoral candidate Dustin
Barca declared bankruptcy to avoid a $2 million judgment for cutting
a guy's face in a bar brawl.

Unfortunately, Dustin confirms his
immaturity and low morals by refusing to take any responsibility for
the attack. He's chock full of excuses: he was never charged, it was an
“unfortunate incident,” people are trying to make him “look
bad,” everybody wants to focus on his thuggish past “when there
is so much to work for in our future.”

And then he tells a giant, crybaby
whopper: his bankruptcy was due to “a 22-year-old kid with $70,000
in hospital bills for appendicitis and dehydration” — not a judgment won by Patrick Gray, the guy who
required 40 sutures after Dustin beaned him with a cocktail glass.

Mmmm, then how come Dustin's bankruptcy papers claim $2,023,034 in
liabilities, including just $23,000 for medical bills and $2 million
in an unsecured claim to Gray?

For a guy who claims to be on a mission
from God, he sure talks a lot of shit.

Which brings us to this statement, which proves just
how ignorant Dustin is:

Economic sustainability is tourism.

Huh? What, exactly, is sustainable about tourism, either environmentally or economically?

You have 8 million people
flying, via carbon-producing airlines, to the Islands each year. Then
they cruise around in rental cars and tour buses, producing more
emissions. They all must eat, requiring the state to import tons of
food, and they're meanwhile consuming fresh water for their showers
and toilets. They're using electricity generated primarily by
imported fossil fuels, producing sewage the Islands are ill-equipped
to treat and generating mountains of rubbish for over-taxed
landfills. They're staying in hotels that consume lots of natural
resources or vacation rentals that impact neighborhoods. Their
accommodations and golf courses are heavily treated with pesticides
to keep them bug-free and beautiful.

Virtually everything they require —
aside from the waning “aloha spirit” — is imported. In return,
they produce nothing of value, though they do spend money. However, a
lot of that cash leaves the state and goes to corporations based
elsewhere. So how is that any more sustainable than the seed companies Dustin rails against? Why isn't he demanding an EIS on tourism and its impacts?

I loved this:

“People will do anything to smear
your name,” Barca said.

You mean like all those nasty,
unfounded social media attacks you and your “red-shirt” pals
engaged in against Mayor Carvalho and biotech employees, Dustin? The
ones that are still being leveled against folks on Maui, where your
anti-GMO campaign is now focused?

Yeah, that's how Dustin and the
“red-shirts” and the “fistees” roll. And he and Councilman
Gary Hooser can't claim they're not complicit. Shoots,they're
participating in today's rally on behalf of the SHAKA movement, which
has engaged in hate speech, death threats, criminal property damage and vandalism throughout
Maui and Molokai.

I keep waiting for all the good people in the movement, the decent folk who still support Gary and Dustin, to say something —anything —
against the ugliness. How can you support candidates who condone such actions? Doesn't it bother you guys enough to speak up?

But so far, just crickets….

Meanwhile, that master manipulator of
social media, Center for Food Safety, is ironically participating in
a “teach-in” on “Techno-Utopianism and the Fate of the Earth”in New York City this weekend. Andrew Kimbrell, the same guy who joined Vandana
Shiva in rallying Kauai folks to kick out the seed companies, is
giving two talks: The
End of Market Capitalism? and Genetic Redesign of Human Beings.

Koohan Paik — remember her from the
Kauai Superferry days? — is in charge of “technology” for the
event. Ironically, her hubby, Jerry Mander, will be speaking on
Questions
We Should Have Asked About Technology.

You mean like why it's OK for you guys
to use it for propaganda and deception, but everyone else is suspect?

Good old Vandana is on the program,
too, collecting her big speaking fee:

So let's see, if Hawaii Seed/GMO-Free
Kauai brought Vandana here twice, via business class, with hotels and
entourage, that's like a cool $100,000 they plunked down just for
that particular piece of propaganda. And you thought this was a poor
little David vs Goliath grassroots movement!

The scary thing about demagogues like Dustin is how effectively their rhetoric can attract supporters.

From "Democracy, Demagoguery, and Critical Rhetoric" by Patricia Roberts-Miller, Ph.D.:

Demagogues sometimes pick outgroups against whom there are legitimate grievances, but then attribute all ills to that group.... The scapegoating of an outgroup means that the solution to the complicated problem is the removal of that group (or the individual who is supposed to lead that group). This is one of the major attractions of demagoguery (for both the rhetor and audience) and explains why it is effective: it takes a tremendously complicated situation, about which people are very anxious, and makes them feel better by presenting a simple solution that anyone can grasp: elimination of the outgroup and promotion of the ingroup. As Fromm said about Nazism, people who feel helpless and insecure are "ready to submit to new authorities which offer...security and relief from doubt."

Full text at http://werry.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/75723062/roberts-miller_demagoguery_criticalrhet_excerpt.pdf

Joan! I agree. We should rid the Islands of the large corporate tourism industry. That would include every airline(Hawaiian too) every rental car company every hotel, food vendors, construction companies, Costco, all retail that has anything to do with tourism, gas stations that sell to rental cars, ABC stores, every restaurant that caters to tourism every cruise line etc, etc, etc. As we all know - corporations are made up of only a few rich Haoles. No local people actually work for a corporation. Not sure though how these few rich corporate dudes actually get all that work done without people but that doesn't matter. As you said Joan - all tourist do is bring money to the island. How dare they!

9:51. -- You misstated my views. I never said Kauai should get rid of all corporate tourism. I mocked Dustin's claim that it's economically sustainable. And I never said all tourists do is bring $ to the island. I made it quite clear they also consume a lot of resources and produce a lot of waste.

Yikes! Sleepwalkers like 9:51 AM had best zombie-shuffle to their computer and order a copy of Rothman (Amazon has 'em for $27 new and $4 used). Wake up to the reality of what tourism has done, is doing, and will continue to do to Kauai!

This should be the nail in the coffin for Barcas political career and for anyone who endorsed him like Gary Hooser, the worst of them all. Talk about not taking responsibility. He doesn't even have ignorance as an excuse. He graduated high school and has experience.

I thought martial art practitioners were suppose to have self control and not fight out of the ring and held to an even higher standard of being responsible with violence and emotions. I respected his practice in martial arts until now. Taking a glass to someone's face and cutting it. It's inexcusable. It's called being a bully and a violent criminal with anger issues. Not a good example for our keiki. Not mayor material. It mJes me sad because kids do look up to him. They think he's cool cause he's tough. Being a bully is not ok and its a sign of weakness of character.

Barca is a distraction.Reality is this- Tourism provides more money and less environmental impact than ANY other industry. The island needs tourism. Fact- more tips are swept off the tables in Hawaii every week than all of the income from Ag in a year.We are irresponsible if we talk about "evil tourism" while Kauai suffers real issues TODAY. IE bad roads, poor schools (State controlled), no drug treatment, Landfill, Sewer systems, Bankrupt County budget, runaway lawsuits, bad tax laws, Council members who do not care about the people, Council members who pass illegal laws, create and encourage social divisions..no housing for the locals, no housing planned for the f*cking huge aging population...who is going to take care of the hundreds of older Surfer dudes in ten years? JoAnn has Mt Yukimura in Kekaha as her tribute...she has been in office so long, has always yakity yaked about landfill etc and NOTHING.....now she is on a Bus rampage...she has gotta go. At least Barca threw his foot in the ring, he is a violent, uneducated lout, but he has stepped out ..and we do HAVE two great Council members and a few great Council candidates...for Kauai to fix itself we need to start by electing a Council who communicates civilly...the arrogant lawsuit prone and pencil throwing Bynum and Hyperbole Hooser gotta go....and if they go Chock will be lost and not know what to do, so Chock gotta go too.This island has so many wonderful people it is a shame that we are run by a few real as*holes. And Jay, a real disappointment has allowed it all to happen...a failure as the Chair, an absolute failure. Hey Jay, have you EVER heard of a Council member throwing stuff during Council session? No way Jay, it has never happened... and you sit there like a Bobooze and do nothing....what a leader. Allowing such disrespectful behavior on the floor of our lawmaking body...unbeleebabull.

Where will the jobs and/or money come from ? What realistic economic engine do you suggest ?

Wrong question (and fallacious thinking -- you're posing a false dilemma, assuming a priori that the island's economy will be screwed without tourism because there's no "realistic economic engine" that can replace it). That's the kind of simplistic thinking political demagogues love to hear. Nothing personal, but hey, do you really want to be lunchmeat for the Garys and Dustins of life?

The tourism issue is much more complex than "where will the jobs and money come from." It includes questions like what are the long-term downsides of tourism (there are many), what strategies can be developed to mitigate them (again, there are many), and what are the real power bases driving the industry (hint: it's neither tourists nor local wage earners).

Here's a thought: instead of demanding that others do your thinking for you, what if you research the issue and come up with some ideas to help Kauai shake the tourism habit? Unless, of course, you're happy with the status quo, in which case never mind, move along, there's nothing for you to see here.

da Hoos is spending big money in internet advertising. He is everywhere on Facebook (maybe he really did do a deal with Zuckerberg).I was researching wheat in the Ukraine and Stalin's agricultural programs. Communism and Agriculture. And da Hoos' Internet ads kept on popping up. Over and over. All over Facebook and all over Google, not bad Hoos....but enormous dough. Big big dough.

Reality is this- Tourism provides more money and less environmental impact than ANY other industry.

That's the reality if your viewpoint is no wider than the next few fiscal years. In fact, tourism is an extractive industry whose long-term future guarantees diminishing returns. As has been shown by various socio-economic studies, tourism inevitably diminishes, and often irreparably destroys, the very aspects of culture and viewscape that make a place a desirable destination to begin with.

It's characteristic of the industry that the majority of those who feed, by greed or need, at the trough of tourism, remain in denial of what it is doing to them, to their place and to their culture.

It is that denial which allows tourism to run out of control, corrupting local economies, politics and cultures.

DawsonThere are not many ways a community can survive.Manufacturing- Yep, that will work.Agriculture and Mining- Oh gee, there may be a problem hereInformation services- You need a good school system.Real estate- Maybe we can all cater to wealthy newcomers.Finance and Banking-NopeRetail- Someone needs money to buy the stuff.Transportation-NopeUtilities-NopeServices- Includes healthcare, tourism and government.Maybe you can pick one that will work on Kauai.Hands down, tourism wins. It is cleaner than all economic drivers except Info Services. I am independently wealthy so the dough doesn't mean anything to me.But I did hear that most people have to work somewhere. "feed, greed and need" what a crock of BS. As if Ag didn't change the face of the islands, or Whaling? or rich Howlees (like my own self)..Tourism is risky, but the real destroyer of economies and culture is the government.Just take a peak at our Council. Laws against Ag on Ag lands (Hooser, Bynum) laws that approve mini-Hotels on Ag land (Bynum),tax laws that raise rents (Hooser/Bynum)etc. proposed laws to raise the GET (Yukimura now , after the election her four comrades will agree to this tax increase- da Hoos, Chock, Bynum and Jay. Only two lonely members on the Council people care for the regular rank and file worker...that be Mel and Ross.

But I hope you have a new form of commerce for the island. I would love to invest in it, after I check with my Trustees.

But I hope you have a new form of commerce for the island. I would love to invest in it, after I check with my Trustees.

Oh, please. You're not even trying to think, just trotting out a list of easy reasons to defend your comfortable status quo.

It's the fear of change, along with the terror of losing what you've got, that makes sensibilities like yours sucker-bait for the Hoosers of the world. Your energy goes into Saying No to what's possible, unaware that while you're standing on the brakes, the island's self-serving demagogues are rolling on by, pickpocketing your kids', grandkids' and great-grandkids' futures as they pass.

Ironic indeed how Dustin Barca was quick to send me an email saying that he forgave me for my crimes against humanity and that he prays for my forgiveness. I somehow don't think God would be to happy with his behavior as well as the rest of the anti-GMO activists here in Hawaii. I've exposed their ugliness and the comments I get are along the lines of accusing me of being racist, supporting an evil, and other gibberish. Have we lost sight of what's right and wrong? What's happening to decency and civility?! Where are the true leaders who should be condemning this stuff?! Oh, they are with them and promoting it!

If you ever get bored of hammering those dip shits that 2491-ned us to death last year (Hooser/Bynum), feel free to listen to the audio of the Kapaa forum where Perry and Rapozo went bazzerk on the thought of legalizing weed.

11:20. Good point. This is a blog. Not a newspaper and for now it is a single issue blog with a single agenda - eliminate Mr. Hooser and Mr. Bynum.

But you are right about what we get once Perry replaces Bynum. Elections are not single issue events and for many of us who don't give a shit about 2491 - the idea of putting/keeping drug warriors in office is quite troubling. It means they will put their dogma over empirical facts, as anyone who reads and thinks knows the war on marijuana has been an utter failure. These guys want to use our tax money to keep fighting it.

The bankruptcy is concerning. It was 9 years ago but there should still be a waiting period. By itself, it shouldn't be a disqualification but I'd like to see at least a 10-year bankruptcy free period and at least a 35-year old age requirement. My prediction: Carvalho soundly defeats Barca by at least a 2.5:1 ratio.

Joan - why do you attack tourism? What other (realistically) industry would support the 67,000 residents and be less environmentally advantageous and/or economically advantageous? Serious question. Look at someone try to move forward with a dairy farm? High-tech industry? Um, where's the talent? What sizable company would operate here given the tax structure, school system, political climate, talent pool (it just doesn't exist) and overall attitudes towards putting in a full-day's work? I'm not advocating for tourism but given the alternatives, it's a pretty damn good one. There's so much talk about sustainability but I have yet to hear a realistic alternative to our current industry that drives our economy.

8:18 perfect post! nothing need further be said...(yeah right...)get ready to get creamed by your "callous" "uneducated" "bigoted" sponsor ...etc etc...I love the "WE" bit about being played for fools..."producing waste" is appropriate for many here, ...because you insight it doesn't afford you authority ...

Mahalo to whoever posted that quote earlier from Eleanor Roosevelt- "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." Perhaps commenters on this blog would benefit from contemplating these wonderful and very true words?

Joan, thanks for your continued exposure of the truth.I had to take a step back, and concluded that we need to support Agriculture in all its forms. Organic, Commercial, big and small. The dictionary defines agriculture as:1. the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming.2. the production of crops, livestock, or poultry.3. agronomyOf course the first two operative words is "the science". this very complex matter is simple when you peel back all the layers. The conclusion is Hooiser an Bynum are trying to rewrite the dictionary, and redefine what agriculture is. I firmly believe we need to have law makers with common sense and practical reasoning. Utopian ideals are okay as long as you don't force it upon others. Then it is no longer Utopian, it is a Fascist. Fascist Ideology always has protectionist and interventionist as its policy for a better world. Sound familiar?

Joan, We are looking forward to reading more about other candidates integrity and character. Now that you have highlighted Dustin, we eagerly await your take on Bernard and his alleged breaking and ignoring of the law. Can an elected official ignore a law, claiming it is unconstitutional- or should they follow the law and go to court to overturn it? This is a good opportunity to discuss this issue.

Character matters - despite what the Clinton supporters would have you believe. Actions are often a reflection of character. It is appropriate to discuss 'people' that may be in charge of running the entire county in charge of millions of dollars and presiding over critical decisions. I want someone with a backbone and character. Unfortunately, we don't have a fiscally sound alternative to Barca but I'm certain Bernard is a far superior decision maker over Barca. Nothing against Barca. He's just not a wise choice for mayor. I don't honestly believe E. Roosevelt would disagree with character - and if she would, it simply means she would be lacking in character.

Keith Yap, I agree with you 100% and share your concerns about the slippery slide from Utopianism to Facism.

10:33 -- I assume you're talking about that very old story, "fuel gate," which I wrote about when it happened, and again in February of this year.

http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/02/musings-dredging-dreck.html

It seems a sign of desperation that Walter Ritte and other Barca supporters are dredging it up again when the AG already declined to pursue it, and even sue-happy Mike Sheehan didn't follow up with a civil suit when it was made clear that was the only option left.

Keith Yap says, "Agriculture in all its forms" Almost 100% of all people around the world support agriculture when it means the growing of food. But it is very unwise to say "in all its forms" because some forms of agriculture may be harmful to people's health, animal's health, insect's health, beneficial microbial health, air health, water health, and the health of the soil. So it is not agriculture in general which people oppose, but those forms of agriculture which create health concerns. When governments and millions or billions of people around the world show their concern about such agricultural practices, it is wiser to discuss and research the issues rather than claim that such people and governments are "anti-agriculture." They are not. They are pro-health and exercising the precautionary principle. When in doubt, it is better to wait and investigate. And some investigations are extremely complicated and require a very long time period, even decades. Good science takes and needs time. Time to discuss issues and not muddle them with terms such as "against agriculture".

It's my understanding that the mayor didn't "ignore a law, claiming, it is unconstitutional," he was advised by his attorney that he had a right to take the fifth in regard to questioning that was occuring in a non-judicial setting.

Not one comment in defense of Barca's character, just deflection, deflection, deflection. It's hilarious to see them get upset at you, Joan, for talking about Barca's violent past, when they are all over Facebook trying to use the past of a Council candidate that doesn't support their single-issue fanaticism. Hypocrisy is the name of the anti game, with a heaping pile of cognitive dissonance on the side. (sorry for the mixed metaphor).

This isnt the first time people who are actually trying to protect the Aina (Land) and do something good are being slandered in the media. Wake up people! These groups like The shaka movement are the only people who are trying to save our islands from being controlled by these large corporations.from a 90's baby im saying we see through all your lies.When our lands being destroyed with poison that "graffitti" or vandalism is a form of revolution against the chemicals and harm done to our islands every day!

The precautionary principle means to err on the side of health and the environment by placing the burden of proving no harm on the proponent of the activity. I'm no expert but why not require the person spraying restricted use pesticides to prove that there's no harm to the surrounding communities? And that is something that nobody knows. Not the state, the companies, the politicians, the farm bureau, surfrider, the lawyers, the activists, the bloggers, the commenters. Nobody.

9:56, that's why you conduct a study first to find out where you stand, and then propose the bill. But no the dumb ass lair / public divider screwed the whole process up. Just as Joan said all along. And you still not listening. He had lie even to the red shirts, how! With a badly written bill. ALL the silent majority knew that, that's why we voted the way we voted.

@9:56,You left out a key part of the precautionary principle definition:"In the absence of a scientific consensus." There's certainly an overwhelming consensus on GMO and there's also one on pesticides used properly. I like what Michael Crichton wrote: "The precautionary principle, properly applied, forbids the precautionary principle."Pete Antonson

That is the question that no one knows. Not even you. What is happening to the pesticides being applied? Are they being transported into the streams, rivers and near shore waters? The state acknowledges that it doesn't know.

9:56 a.m. and 6:25 a.m. You really don’t get it. Joan’s been saying for months now, if the jerk didn’t get in the way, the study would have been done with cooler heads trying to find a way to conduct the pesticide study. But noooo!

What other way can Joan answer your repetitive question and who else will have to continue to try to explain to you, why there’s no study yet for the pesticide concerns by the public in Waimea.

Remember, the pesticide drift is in Smokey Valley Waimea where, Waimea town vs Pioneer has its lawsuit going on, NOT Sygentha who already moved from the school to crop corn, not DOW Agri-science and not BASF.

Pesticide! Not genetically modified organism!

Can anyone else explain to 9:56 a.m. and 6:25 a.m. on why the question posed is echoing in its own chamber!

Can 2:39 a.m. give this person a hand by explaining yourself out in more simpler verbage.

The reason that the study hasn't been done is because the State abdicated any responsibility it had under the numerous environmental laws that it is supposed to enforce. And if you don't believe me, ask Ross and Mel. They've been trying to get the State to do its job since Gary introduced the bill.

Did you read the State'study? It acknowledges that the State does not have a monitoring program and that the time to take samples to determine if there is transport of pesticides into streams and rivers is when there is storm runoff, which they haven't done. The State's failure to administer the environmental laws predate 2491.